She is best known for her work on television, notably through her main roles on five anticipated but short-lived sitcoms, Joey, The Class, Better Off Ted, Mr. Sunshine and Mr.
Mom, as well as recurring and guest roles on numerous TV series including Cruel Summer, Oz, Young Sheldon, Modern Family, Necessary Roughness, Ted Lasso, and That '90s Show.
[15] Her first acting credits came between 1998 and 2001 when she appeared on the soap operas One Life to Live and Guiding Light, respectively as Elaine, one of Starr Manning's nannies, and Ellie, an assistant to Olivia Spencer.
That same year, Anders was cast opposite Richard Ruccolo as the original female lead in the failed television pilot for the proposed series Spellbound,[16] about a warlock who falls in love with a mortal woman.
[18] In 2004, Anders made her film debut with a minor role in The Stepford Wives, playing a secretary to Nicole Kidman's main character.
That same year, she was cast as Emma Leeds, the female lead in News To Me, a proposed workplace sitcom inspired by Joel Stein's experiences as the youngest-ever columnist at Time magazine; the pilot was not picked up.
[22] In between seasons of Joey, Anders appeared as a "Christian Band Slut" in her older brother Sean's directorial debut film Never Been Thawed, marking the first of many collaborations between the pair.
In 2008, following The Class' cancelation, Anders guest starred on the episode "Power" of the crime drama Numb3rs, and had a small role her brother's film, Sex Drive.
Despite her character being central to the premise, Anders was billed as a guest star in case she'd have to work on The Big D and Better Off Ted at the same time, with the latter having precedence.
[29] In February 2010, Anders was cast in Mr. Sunshine, marking the return to comedy television for Friends star Matthew Perry.
[33] Right after Mr. Sunshine's cancellation, Anders appeared in a four episode story arc in the first season of USA Network's series Necessary Roughness, as a former girlfriend of Marc Blucas' character.
[39] In 2016, she starred in the failed pilot for the sitcom Crunch Time, as the creator and producer of a game show hosted by Craig Ferguson's character.
That same year, she also did a guest spot on the first season of Speechless, a sitcom led by Minnie Driver, her co-star from the failed Ladyfriends pilot.